tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post4276493822693323757..comments2024-01-25T14:51:13.377-05:00Comments on Gamso - For the Defense: Duane Buck - At Least One More Time - UPDATEDJeff Gamsohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09869425697771419546noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-41563950982602435022011-09-16T10:05:34.075-04:002011-09-16T10:05:34.075-04:00It's mostly logistics.
There's been stu...It's mostly logistics. <br /><br />There's been stuff filed on a regular basis, and if the case gets to the point where an execution is coming soon the pace may pick up as lawyers continue to scour the record and the facts and the legal landscape with extra energy. But also:<br /><br />Courts sit on things until they have to decide (often in the hope that a governor will take them off the hook), which means no going to a higher court until there's a decision from below.<br /><br />Governors keep hoping that courts will decide and take them off the hook, which means that things sometimes sit in abeyance.<br /><br />New facts and theories sometimes arise late. Claims of competence to be executed (what are known as Ford claims), for instance, aren't considered ripe until an execution is imminent. In the Richard case you refer to (where Keller shut the courthouse door), the argument that should have gotten Richard a stay was based on a decision from the Supreme Court (to hear Baze v. Rees) issued that morning.<br /><br />And, of course, there are the desperate moves where creative lawyers try something, hoping it will take. And once in a while it does.Jeff Gamsohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09869425697771419546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-57380121944848842792011-09-16T09:42:17.146-04:002011-09-16T09:42:17.146-04:00This is probably a dumb question that probably has...This is probably a dumb question that probably has a simple answer, but I've always wondered why it seems to common in death penalty cases that relief is requested, and granted and denied, at almost literally the last second. The motion to stay that the SCOTUS granted was apparently filed in the SCOTUS on the same day that Duane Buck was scheduled to be executed. This has got to wreak havoc with the condemned's psyche (although I suppose on the other hand something might be said for holding out hope until the last second). The Sharon Keller fiasco as I recall involved a similar scenario. I'm sure there's something about death penalty cases in particular that makes this situation unavoidable, but it's always struck me as very strange.John Kindleyhttp://peoplevstate.comnoreply@blogger.com